Adviser bannings hit three year high

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has capped off a busy year with the announcement that it has banned 30 advisers and jailed 25 people it describes as corporate criminals, according to its annual report.

The regulator tabled its report in Federal Parliament yesterday which reveals that of the advisers banned in the last 12 months, 17 were removed from the industry permanently, while the remainder can return to the industry after their bans expire.

This figure is up from last year when 27 where banned, 15 permanently and also up from the previous year when 17 advisers were banned from the industry.

Five advisers also received jail sentences this year as did 13 unlicensed individuals, and seven dealers licences were revoked including Chapel Road, Financial and Rural Management and the Soho Lemon Management.

Among the advisers sent to jail this year was Robyn Ann-Carrolle Cochrane, banned from acting as an investment adviser in 1998, who received a four year sentence after pleading guilty to 29 fraud charges.

Corporate criminals jailed as a result of ASIC action include the high profile Wattle Group investment scheme promoter Geoffrey Dexter, who defrauded 14 investors of $1.2 million. He was handed a 10 year jail term.

Those on the permanently banned list include Maxwell Vardanega, who dishonestly obtained loans worth nearly $1.5 million for his company Australian Investment Advisers, as well as the former Westpac financial adviser Luke Stuart McGrath.

The watchdog’s report shows it also commenced 214 major investigations throughout the 2000/2001 year, and saved $400 million of investor funds after stopping illegal schemes or those with inadequate disclosure.

In NSW, acting regional commissioner Peter Kell says the year was an especially demanding one due to the major investigations into HIH Insurance and failed telecommunications company One.Tel.

The report also outlines the watchdog’s regulatory achievements throughout the year including enforcement action resulting in jail sentences and bannings of advisers, prospectus and disclosure regulation, and consumer protection outcomes.